The Talent Heard Round the World
by aficionadoNYC
Summary: The Cullens have no idea the impact their stand against The Volturi has had on their world. Set 6 months after the events of Breaking Dawn, a stranger will arrive that will force ever immortal to make a choice, a choice about who they want to be.
1. A tough nut to crack

**AN:** Hello, and welcome. This is my first attempt at any kind of fiction writing outside of what was required of me in school. Any and all feed back would be greatly welcomed, either in reviews or PM's. I have a very strong idea of where this story is heading, but I didn't want to get too a head of myself before getting some feedback on how I started off. Thank you ^_^

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 **Chapter 1:** A tough nut to crack

"And then we continued into blissfully into this small but perfect piece of our forever.", Margaret read aloud with a slight sigh as she put aside her tablet which had the file containing the story Esme had sent her. It was easy to see how happy the ending of the story made her. "I'm so happy Bella wrote all that down, to preserve it" she continued in her dreamy state, her mind, I'm sure revolving around the happiness her longtime friend was no doubt experiencing at the moment, and the similar happiness I might bring her one day, and I had to agree, being in the situation I was in, it was nice to know that someone, somewhere got their happy ending, seeing as I probably wasn't.

Margaret seemed to pick up on my thoughts, she was no Edward or Jasper, but she was very observant of other people's feelings. "He'll figure it out you know, he always does."

I couldn't deny that, even to my own doubting mind. That it would get done was never in question, it's when that was the concern. "You know I'm only worried about the 'deadline', it has nothing to do with his ability to figure this out."

Matthew Paul Dunstan was probably the greatest scientific mind in his community. It was by an amazing twist of fate that our paths had happened to cross, had it been anyone else, who knows what would have happened.

"Adam, you know neither of us will allow anything to happen to you" and to that I had to laugh. "We're starting to sound like Esme and Bella, aren't we?" And to that we both began laugh, but just as our laughter trailed off a breeze past the back of the couch alerted me to Matthew's entry into the room before my eyes had the chance. He was sitting in a chair that was just off the foot of the couch I was laying back on, his head resting against the low back of the chair, his upward turned eyes closed. That wasn't a good sign.

The moment of levity that had just passed, brought on by the happy ending we got to hear had evaporated just as quickly, leaving in it's wake that overwhelming sense of powerlessness we had all begun to feel these last few months. None of us could escape the sense that the proverbial flood of knowledge we obtained in the weeks following my arrival into their lives had been little more than a flash in the pan, and now, things had ground to an absolute halt. Every attempt we made at making progress was met by a dead end, and not the kind of dead end I was interested in.

Despite the unnervingly still and seeming peaceful appearance of his body, the clenched set of his fists gave away the true nature of his emotions. "Matt, why don't you and Maggie go hunting, maybe some fresh air will clear your head. I'm getting pretty hungry myself, I'll take my time downtown and get something to eat, when I get back we'll get back to work."

His reaction at first, or lack thereof, would have lead someone else to think I was talking to a statue, but a moment later, said sculpture sighed and looked at me, nodding, before turning his golden gaze to his mate, "When the human is right, he's right" he announced in an oddly tired sounding voice for someone of his kind before getting to his feet, Margaret at his side in an instant. "Have fun you guys, don't rush back for me, I have no idea how long I'll be out", I said as I wrenched myself into a seated position on the couch.

"Bon appetit" Margaret said as she leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek goodbye, of course she didn't actually allow our skin to touch, and Matt extended his fit towards mine, as if we were to bump them, but again, we made sure that no skin-to-skin contact was made before they seemingly vanished into thin air. 6 months ago, it used to freak me out, now I'd probably be more concerned I was able to actually see them move.

People always told me I was an old man in a young man's body, and as I stretched and heard several of the vertebrae in my 27-year-old neck and spine pop and crack, I began to believe them.

After getting to my feet and lumbering around my room, making myself presentable to the outside world, I made my way to the garage, and much as I loved speeding around in Margaret's Maserati Granturismo convertible, it's not something I was comfortable with taking out alone, instead I 'settled' with the Cadillac SRX that just so happened to show up at the house a few week after I arrived, and just 2 days after I mentioned in passing that it was one of my favorite cars while an ad was playing for it on TV. Growing up, my family and I were what you would consider lower-middle-class, so the Idea of getting a $50,000+ car at the drop of a hat was a bit alien to me, 5 minutes behind the wheel well and truly buried those feelings.

As I sat behind the wheel, in a rare moment of solitude, I found myself reflecting on that first night, and what I had learned about this world, and those that inhabit it. I was still recovering from the shock of learning what they were when they began discussing what I could mean to their world, the impact I could have. That brought me up short. I had never had an 'impact' on anyone. Much as I did like to help people, I was always of meager means, so the idea of having a truly meaningful impact on the world was always nothing more than a fantasy to me. If what they were discussing at the time came to pass, it would be the most devastating powerful change to ever impact the unchanging.

The thought of being able to bring that kind of happiness to total strangers brought an odd sense of accomplishment to me, and with it, a slight smile. My stomach had other plans for the moment however, and with a nasty growl, I started the engine and headed toward downtown Boston to see how good my 'hunting' for the evening would be.


	2. Coming to Terms

**AN:** I seem to have been bitten by the writing bug, and decided to write/post post chapter 2. This'll probably be my last post of the day, but I will probably be posting more over the course of the next week. Again, and/all feedback would be really appreciated. Also, I'm a terrible proof-reader, so I apologize for any mistakes.

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 **Chapter 2:** Coming to terms

On my drive into the city, I couldn't help but draw comparisons between Bella Swan, now Cullen, and myself. Both of us humans that landed ass-first into the most amazing thing that could ever happen to a human (despite what Edward and Rosalie seem to think), and both of us 'talented', though I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit smug at just how talented I was.

I was drawn out of my deep thoughts by a screaming car horn, followed by the vehicle in question cutting me off, which was something I was used to having grown up, and lived all my life until very recently, in one of the largest cities on the planet. So it was not the action of being cut off that caused my hands to tighten on the wheel, but the large New England Patriots sticker on the back. It was like the people of Boston knew I was born and raised in New York City, and took every opportunity to raise my blood pressure. I calmed myself with the hope that I wouldn't have any blood, let alone blood pressure, for much longer.

After putting my car in a municipal parking structure, I took to the streets on foot in the vibrant downtown area. Much as the native New Yorker in me wanted to hate this city, and everything/one in it, I did have to begrudgingly admit that this was a very nice place. I hardly noticed where I was going as I walked around, trying to decide what, or even if I wanted to eat. My mind was racing, as it often did lately. So much to process, and yet more to discover. I knew Matthew didn't want to involve Carlisle in trying to help me given the massive target he and his family only recently shook off, but I couldn't help but feel like that was going to be our only hope of success, "the vampire surgeon extraordinaire," as Jacob Black had once referred to him.

I ended up at one of my new favorite haunts, Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park. I always loved being near the water, which I guess came from growing up a 5-minute walk from an ocean beach. I was never athletic, another similarity between myself and new the new Mrs. Cullen, but I was at least coordinated enough to get by without any accidents, and I was never one to pass up a change to go swimming.

It was in that vein of thought that I began to let myself realize just how much I was going to be losing. Sure, I was undoubtedly getting far more in return, but I would also be losing some stuff too. Those who knew me used to find it a bit odd, but I've always been something of an adrenalin junkie. I loved to scuba dive, and ski. Had it not been for how worried Margaret was for my safety, I would have already gone sky diving, but I decided to cancel that off my bucket list to put her fears to rest.

Someday soon I would have no more adrenalin. No more blood. I would be immortal...no... I would be...come on Adam, time to admit it to yourself, you're going to not be human any more. That's as far as I was willing to allow myself to go down that particular rabbit hole. It still amazed me how well Matthew and Margaret took that first big revelation, but to be fair I took their existence pretty well myself, so it shouldn't surprise me all that much.

I was also forced to admit that it wasn't only parts of myself I was going to lose. I was also going to lose the people, the humans, in my life. Being a more talented liar than anyone gave me credit for, I got them to buy the mysterious new job and move to Boston with ease, and at the moment I was keeping in touch with my friends and family via social media, but at some point in the near future, all that was going to come to an end, and it was going to hurt. Them and me. Them for thinking I was dead, and me for having to watch the fallout from a far. There was no way to avoid this outcome. The only comfort I had at the moment was the thought that if any of them was in my position, and I one day found out the truth, I'd like to think that I wouldn't have held it against them, but again, I was a talented liar, even to myself.

I decided to change gears, and to fantasize about how much my life would change for the better when Matthew figured out a way around my problem. The strength, speed, and senses were great, so was being drop-dead gorgeous forever, not that I was vane, but if you've got it, flaunt it, right?

None of those things, even together, were the best part though, far from it. The say that history is doomed to be repeated, by those who do not understand it, or something like that. I always found that idea odd, seeing as so much of history was lost, forgotten by the human race. We don't know what the average Roman citizen on the street thought about feeding people to lions. Well, those people who don't live with someone who lived in the ancient Roman empire don't know, and those of us who are in the know aren't exactly at liberty to discuss it publically.

That's what so got under my skin about Edward and Rosalie from what Bella told us in her memoir, their worlds ended at the tips of their noses. They've spent so much time wrapped up in their own little worlds, wallowing in their self-prescribed misery, moaning about how much life sucks and how much they've lost without seeing how much they've gained. Towards the end of the story, both of them seemed to realize how truly blessed they are, due in large part to Renesmee naturally, but they still didn't seem to get it. They get to see time become history. They get to watch how the actions of today will shape tomorrow and beyond. I guess I'm something of an optimist, not to mention a history buff, and sure, the digital age has made recording the general thoughts of the population effortless, but given what I've seen of how easy digital records are to change, who knows if that data will make it to future generations intact.

"Where's your tin foil hat Adam?" I couldn't help but mutter to myself under my breath before checking my watch and realizing how late it was, I decided to head home, Maggie will get worried and Matt is probably itching to get back to work, so with another joint-cracking stretch, I got to my feet and headed back to the car.


End file.
